Metal bedrail with bed lock



Oct. 12, 1965 E. F. HOOKER METAL BEDRAIL WITH BED LOCK Filed Dec. 10,1963 Ema/son F. Hooker INVENTOR. 05k".

United States Patent 3,210,780 METAL BEDRAIL WITH BED LOCK Emerson F.Hooker, Lexington, N.C. Metal Bed Rail Co. Inc., P.0. Box 866,Lexington, N.C.) Filed Dec. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 329,459 3 Claims. (Cl.-286) This invention comprises a novel and useful metal bedrail with bedlock and more particularly pertains to a bedrail bed lock constitutingan improvement over my prior Patent No. 2,947,999, of August 9, 1960.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a bedrail assemblyincluding a bedrail and a bed lock which shall provide a neat,attractive and exceedingly sturdy construction for joining the bedrailsto the end posts of a bed.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide abedrail assembly containing the same number and similar components tothat of my abovementioned patent and which will establish a more compactfitting engagement of the components with each other in the assembly.

In my prior patent there is disclosed an exceedingly sturdy andsatisfactory all metal construction of a metal bedrail assembly having ashouldered bed lock therein by which a detachable and secure engagementis established betwen the bedrails and the end posts of the bed.However, the construction of the end plate and the bed hook componentsthereof did not permit, in all instances, the establishing of a compactsnug-fitting engagement of these components in the assembly. It istherefore a very important purpose of this invention to overcome theabove-mentioned difliculties encountered in the construction of my priorpatent and to provide an end plate and bed hook arrangement which will,at all times, enable the obtaining of a snug compact engagement of theseelements with each other and with the end of a bedrail.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an end portion of a bedrail showing abedrail locking assembly including an end plate and a bed hook securedthereto in accordance with this invention, certain concealed parts beingshown in dotted lines therein;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bedrail, the bed hookassembly in separated relation;

FIGURE 3 is a view in vertical transverse section taken upon an enlargedscale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 33 inFIGURE 1 and showing the relationship of the components of the bedrailassembly in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view in horizontal section taken substantially uponthe plane indicated by the section line 44 of FIGURE 1 and showingfurther details of the disposition of the bed hook and the end platemembers of the assembly; and,

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the bed lock assembly and inparticular of the bed hook and the end plate components thereof.

The metal bedrail assembly with which the present invention is concernedincludes as its components a onepiece metal bedrail indicated generallyby the numeral 10, together with a bed hook assembly consisting of anend plate component 12 and a bed hook component 14. These three elementsare assembled together to form a bed lock assembly, there being one suchassembly at each end of the bedrail whereby the latter may be detachably3,210,780 Patented Oct. 12, 1965 connected to a bedpost in aconventional well understood manner.

The metal bedrail 10, as previously mentioned, is of one-piececonstruction consisting of a single metal sheet having a longitudinallyand vertically extending flat Web portion 16 provided with tubular beads18 and 20 at the top and bottom thereof to form upper and lower tubularbeads. Each tubular bead is preferably formed by folding a marginalportion of the web 16 perpendicular to itself to provide a horizontalflange 22, the latter being again folded downwardly to provide avertical flange as at 24 which is parallel to the web, and then againfolded toprovide an inner flange 26 which is parallel to the horizontalflange 22. The extremity of the folded portion is then shaped to form aflat planar flat terminal flange 28 which is disposed in side-by-siderelation to and engages the face of the web 16. Both the upper and lowertubular webs 18 and 20 are disposed on what may be termed the innervertical face of the bedrail 10 in a parallel relationship to eachother, these tubular beads being open at their opposite extremities. Atappropriate positions along their lengths, the flanges 28 are spotweldedor otherwise fixedly secured to the web 16 to thus provide a secure andsturdy bedrail.

The end plate component 12 comprises a one-piece bracket-like memberconsisting of a fiat end plate 30 which is integrally connected to aperpendicularly extending flat side plate 32 by means of adiammetrically reduced neck portion 34 connecting these elementstogether at one side thereof as will be best apparent from FIGURE 5.

The end .plate component 12 may be readily fabricated as from a singleplanar sheet metal blank, it being cut to shape as by the use of dies orthe like. In its formation, there is produced upper and lower slots orrecesses 36 and 38 which are of identical construction. The inner endsof the slots 36 and 38 are laterally recessed or notched as at 40 and 42into the end plate 30 and the neck portion 34 lying between the inwardextremities of the two slots 36 and 38 is then folded at right anglesupon itself along the line indicated at 44 in FIGURE 5 which is disposedlaterally inwardly of the side edge of the end plate 30. Finally, theend plate 30 is provided with a vertically extending slit 46 throughwhich the bed hook component 14 extends as set forth hereinafter.

The bed hook component itself consists of a plate-like head 50 fromwhich extends a shank 52 connected thereto by an angula-rly disposedconnecting portion 54. The usual upper and lower hook notches 56 and 58are pro vided in the head member for the customary purpose of detachablyconnecting the bedrail to which the head memher is attached tocorresponding seats or sockets in a bedpost. Inasmuch as thisconstruction is of conventional and known design and forms no part ofthe present invention, a further description thereof is deemed to beunnecessary.

Immediately rearwardly of the hook portions 56 and 58, the head 50 isprovided with vertically extending notched shoulders :60 and '62, andfrom these notched shoulders the head has rearwardly convergent inclinedtop and bottom edges as at 64 and 66 respectively. These edges mergeinto the connecting portion 54 which is of substantially the samevertical extent as that of the shank 52. The shank 52 is in parallelrelation to the planar surface of the head 50 so as to be offsettherefrom for a purpose to be subsequently apparent.

The assembly of the three components into a metal bedrail assembly is asfollows. Referring first to FIGURE 2 it will be observed that the shank52 of the bed hook 14 is inserted through the slit 46 of the end plate30 of the end plate component 12 until the notched shoulders 60 and 62abut against the planar surface of the end plate 36. This is theposition shown in FIGURE 2. At this time, as will be apparent fromFIGURE 4, the head 50 is disposed in laterally spaced parallel relationto the web 16 of the bedrail while owing to the angular connectingportion 54, the shank 52 is now disposed in a face-to-face contact withthe side plate 32 of the end plate component 12 and is welded thereto asshown at 70 in FIGURE 4. The components 12 and 14 are now in theassembled relation shown in FIGURE 2. The vertical extent of the sideplate 32 is sufliciently greater than the vertical extent of the flanges28 so that as shown in FIGURE 3 this plate may be slid between theflanges 28 and the web 16. However, the vertical extent of the shank 52is less than the space between the flanges 28 so that this shank may bereceived therebetween in spaced relation thereto as shown in FIGURE 3.

It should be here noted that the shape and contour of the end plate 30is such that it is coextensive with the end of the bedrail and thusforms a complete and snug closure for that end as shown in FIGURE 1.

As so far described, the arrangement is substantially identical withthat of my above-mentioned previous patent except for the constructionof the end plate component 12.

By way of comparison, it will be noted from FIGURE 3 of my prior patentthat the end plate component thereof has its side plate 50 perpendicularto its end plate 46 Without the provision of any slot or recess disposedtransversely thereof. Consequently, in deforming a blank to provide theperpendicular disposition of the end and side plates 46 and 50 of myprior patent, there necessarily resulted an inwardly projecting roundedsurface at the line of bending of the blank to form the two plates. Whenthe side plate was then forced underneath the flanges of the tubularbeads of the bedrail, the ends of these flanges would strike thisrounded surface at the junction of the side and end plates therebypreventing a perfect and smooth engagement of the end face of thetubular beads with the end plate itself.

This condition is completely overcome by the novel end plate componentconstruction of the present invention. Owing to the notches 36 and 38,when the side plate 32 is forced into the bedrail underneath the flanges28, the end of the web 16 and the adjacent flanged portions 28, 26 ofthe tubular beads can move through these notches into directface-to-face contact with the end plate 30. For this purpose, thenotches 36 and 38 are extended inwardly of the side plate a distancewhich is greater than the inward limits of the flanges 28 so that thereis no metallic junction between the end and side plates which could beengaged by the ends of the tubular beads. Thus there is provided by thisclearance arrangement a perfect tit and endwise engagement of thetubular beads and the bedrail with the planar inner face of the endplate. The notches 40 and 42 enable the fold line 44 to be formedinwardly of the side edge of the end plate 30 so that the side plate 32may lie against the inner surface of web 16 while the side edge of theend plate 30 engages the end edge of the web 16 along portions thereofabove notch 40 and below notch 42 as shown best in FIGURES 1 and 4.

Suitable spot-welding, not shown, firmly secures the shank 52 to theside plate 32 and additional spot-welding secures the latter to the weband/or to the flanges 28.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous nodifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A metal bedrail assembly including a bedrail having an end edgedisposed in a single plane and consisting of a horizontal-1y elongatedflat vertically disposed web having its upper and lower edge portionsturned inwardly and providing tubular open-ended top and bottom beads,said beads terminating in flat flanges extending towards each other anddisposed in side-by-side engagement with said web, an end member securedto one end of said bedrail, said end member comprising integrallyjoined, end and side plates having mutually perpendicular planesurfaces, a bed hook mounted upon said end member and extendingoutwardly therefrom beyond said end plate, said end plate being securedto the associated end of said bedrail in engagement with the end edge ofthe web and closing said tubular beads, said side plate being inface-to-face cont-act with said web and having marginal portionsdisposed between said bead flanges and said web, said side plate at itsjunction with said end plate being transversely slotted at its top andbottom edges and providing cut-away portions through which said beadsand flanges extend into direct engagement with said end plate.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end plate has a vertical slittherein, said bed hook having a head portion and a shank portion, saidbed hook being received .in said slit and said shank portion beingfixedly secured to said side plate, said head portion and said shankportion being spaced laterally from each other and joined by anangularly disposed connected portion, said shank portion lying betweenthe adjacent edges of said flanges, said transverse slots in said sideplate extending inwardly of the tubular beads and their flanges, saidside and end plates being connected by a neck portion of reduced width,said neck portion being folded intermediate its junction with said sideand end plates.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end plate is provided with apair of vertically spaced notches extending laterally inwardly from theside edge thereof having the side plates connected thereto, said sideand end plates being connected by a neck portion of reduced width whichdefines the inner limit of the transverse slots and the notches in theend plate, said neck portion being connected with the end plate along afold line disposed laterally inwardly of the side edge of the end platehaving the notches therein whereby the side edge port-ions of the endplate above and below the notches therein engage the end edge of the webof the bedrail above and below the notches, respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,771,616 11/56Duncan 5-286 2,855,260 10/58 Reiss et a1. 312257 2,947,999 8/60 Hooker 5286 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner,

1. A METAL BEDRAIL ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A BEDRAIL HAVING AN END EDGEDISPOSED IN A SINGLE PLANE AND CONSISTING OF A HORIZONTALLY ELONGATEDFLATE VERTICALLY DISPOSED WEB HAVING ITS UPPER AND LOWER EDGE PORTIONSTURNED INWARDLY AND PROVIDING TUBULAR OPEN-ENDED TOP AND BOTTOM BEADS,SAID BEADS TERMINATING IN FLAT FLANGES EXTENDING TOWARDS EACH OTHER ANDDISPOSED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WEB, AND END MEMBERSECURED TO ONE END OF SAID BEDRAIL, SAID END MEMBER COMPRSIINGINTEGRALLY JOINED, END AND SIDE PLATES HAVING MUTUALLY PERPENDICULARPLANE SURFACES, A BED HOOK MOUNTED UPON SAID END MEMBER AND EXTENDINGOUTWARDLY THEREFROM BEYOND SAID END PLATE, SAID END PLATE